Blog Entry #3

PART 1
Select a good (or bad) example of design and comment on at least TEN (10) rules coming from our readings and/or web resources. Explain why particular rules were (or were not) followed. Your examples can come from websites, magazines, etc. Be sure to share these examples on your blog!

I chose a local business, Smallcakes, for my website critique.  Honestly, I chose it because it was the first thing I thought of.  I guess I have chocolate on the brain.  http://www.smallcakescupcakery.com/
Smallcakes has a bright, fun website that promotes an atmosphere of happiness. 
I reflected on the following aspects of the website:

1.  Mistakes.  More than anything else, I feel that spelling and grammar mistakes kill whatever message a business is trying to send.  If you can't be bothered to check your spelling, you appear careless and unprofessional.  Smallcakes delivers with a mistake-free website.  Any site visitor would be able to browse without being distracted by typos. 

2.  Splash page.  Smallcakes does not have a splash page on their website.  Though we were shown examples of splash pages that made sense and were well designed, a splash page would have been an extra click for site visitors that would have distracted from the overall feel of the page. 

3.  Fonts.  Smallcakes does a great job of appearing fun without overusing a variety of fonts.  Their logo and the carousel at the top employ several fonts, but the rest of the page is consistent and clean. 
Check it out here: 

 

4.  Symmetry and grids.  Take a look at the screenshot above.  Smallcakes also employed symmetry to display a lot of information while maintaining a clean and readable page. 

 

5.  Horizontal bar.  Smallcakes did not use any gimmicky horizontal elements to their page that could confuse a site visitor.  They did include a carousel of pictures and promotions at the top of the page that scrolls horizontally, but the site visitor is not forced to move horizontally.  You can see in the picture below that the carousel includes arrows on the sides to easily navigate side-to-side.

 

 

 

6.  Obvious goal.  Smallcakes leaves no room for doubt about their services or products when you visit their page.  Their products are displayed prominently, their services are clearly articulated and the site visitor is able to easily access additional information about the business. 

 

7.  White space.  Smallcakes' site does not employ a lot of whitespace or large margins.  For me, this was the one negative element The site does have a slightly cluttered feel to it. 

To compound the cluttered feel, the pink bar containing the logo and navigation buttons is static and takes up about 25% of the page.  When a visitor scrolls, only ~75% of the page changes, giving the page a slightly constrained and squished feeling. 

You can see in the picture below that the top section is the same as seen in the picture above, though this content is much farther down the page. 

 

 

 

8.  Pictures.  Smallcakes excels at including a variety of mouth-watering pictures of sugary goodness.  The page is filled with pictures of cupcakes and ice cream in a variety of flavors.  No doubt, the page entices the visitor to buy the product.  The pictures are professional, clean, and large enough to draw the visitor in to the experience. 

 

9.  Colors.  The page uses consistent colors to maintain a clean feel, despite being crowded.  Smallcakes uses shades of pink and brown to draw the users eye around the page and bring consistency to a variety of content and images.  Smallcakes does "break" one of the design rules by using pink font on a pink background, but I feel that they did a great job.  The end result is easy to read and has a warm, happy feel. 

 

10.  Navigation.  This website is extremely easy to navigate.  There are no surprises and links were in standard locations, making content easy to find and follow. 

 

 

PART 2

Design harmony.

 

I chose to complete exercise 1 on page 58:  Repetition.  I designed a page for a macaroon company and the following slides showcase the use of repetition in advertising. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used several pictures that highlighted repetition but kept the text the same throughout.  I chose simple text that complimented the pictures and stayed with black and white.

 

I carefully chose professional looking pictures that maintained their integrity despite being sized up. 

 

I did struggle with the use of the logo.  I've never designed a logo and I felt like the logo was really repetitive considering the simple content in my text.  Had it not been an assigned part of this project, I would have deleted the logo.  

 





Blog Entry #2

For my MMP, I have joined three communities to assist with MMP:  Apple Teacher (through the Apple website:  https://appleteacher.apple.com/auth/#/signin/), Google+ group  Technology and Teacher Education (https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105015177300978505157) and the Google+ group "Apple":  https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/107259666512014228221). 

In the 6 years that I have worked at our school, we have transitioned from paper books and CD players, to interactive, iPad friendly courseware.  We were forced to rethink everything about our teaching platforms, methodologies and communication.  The transition was difficult for our IT professionals, our curriculum developers, our students, and, most notably for our instructors.  Many of our instructors are foreign-born and have had limited exposure to technology.  iPads, PDF software, and learning management systems are not mastered easily by many of our faculty members.

Since the transition, we have developed our curriculum and methodologies around Apple products.  Our instructors are required to use a variety of Apple tools in the classroom, and we expect them to be familiar enough with each tool that they are also able to assist with basic troubleshooting.  After speaking with members of our IT Department and Curriculum Development team, I have noted a training gap and have decided to create training on using Apple iPad AirDrop.  I am hoping that the support team within Apple Teacher, as well as the Google+ communities, can assist me with identifying and answering frequently asked questions and creating a training program which will be informative and applicable to our situation. 

Using the ADDIE model as a guide for my project design, I will walk through the ADDIE steps to create a multi-media training presentation.  By using ADDIE for instructional design, I hope to comprehensively and systematically identify training gaps and produce training that clearly teaches the required skills.


Hodell, Chuck. (2011). Chapter 3: Instructional systems development and the ADDIE model. In ISD From the Ground Up: A No-Nonsense Approach to Instructional Design (3^rd ed.). American Society for Training and Development: Alexandria, VA.

Discussion #1: Daley Article

If it is the case that you are not currently in a classroom, or that you do not

have teaching experience in having your students work with multimedia,

express the ways that you could see multimedia analysis creating an issue

for your students.

I work as a faculty development coordinator, so I have little interaction with students.  However, I have grown up alongside many of the new advancements in media distribution and I am now a mother to two littles who are already starting to navigate the world of media. 

Just as reading comprehension and literature analysis are key to understanding the written word, multimedia analysis is key to understanding much of what we see on television and our computers.  Allegations of "fake news," manipulation, and propaganda abound concerning our multimedia content.  As consumers, it is imperative that we are able to process and analyze the media that we are exposed to.  Is it true?  Is it logical?  Is it based on fact or opinion?  Whose point of view is being expressed?  What is this media attempting to accomplish?  Is it informative or persuasive?  Different methods of analysis will be needed for different forms of media.  For instance, a picture may not be true or false, but it is still essential that consumers identify why they are being shown a particular picture.  What is the creator attempting to convey?

There are well-founded reasons for assuming we are at greater risk of manipulation through media than through text alone.  You may read an opinion piece, decide that the argument is logical, and adopt the opinion as your own.  You will have added a linear argument to your worldview.  But media is more subtle.  It can dive into your subconscious without notice.  As Daley wrote (p. 36), "With the computer, we can now electronically construct images and sounds and manipulate space and time to create meanings."  You could read an article about dog abuse and you might feel a little sad, but reflect on how amplified those emotions become when you SEE pictures of abused dogs shown against a dirty background and you HEAR the soulful sound of Sarah McLachlan playing in the background.  Suddenly, you're not just sad, you're sobbing into your couch pillow.  Media accosts multiple senses through image and sound creating an entire experience for the consumer.  Without proper tools to assess and critique the media being consumed, users can easily find themselves swayed by arguments and opinions without fully realizing that they were being exposed to them.   

Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. Educause Review, 38, 32-41.

About Me

Hello! I am a brand-new graduate student at Rutgers University. I am working towards an EdM in Adult and Continuing Education. For the last year, I have been responsible for special projects and faculty development at a language school.  I  work with a diverse group of instructors, who hail from the far corners of the globe. Our curriculum is heavily dependent on technology, especially iPads, so I am constantly looking for ways to teach technology and assist instructors with using the technology to best meet the needs of their students.

Intro Podcast: https://67d1395469077151894.podbean.com/e/intro-1486149464/?token=ce4b7e0feee81afb5c8fee4d27176cd1
 

Blog #1: Media Messages

Ciroc Vodka Commercial

    For this assignment, I chose the Ciroc Vodka commercial, which featured Sean "Diddy" Combs and a Frank Sinatra song prominently playing throughout the advertisement.  The purpose of this video is, most obviously, to sell Ciroc Vodka.  I would argue that the its secondary motive is to highlight Sean "Diddy" Combs as a brand. 
    The Ciroc advertisement displays the enviable and extravagant world of celebrity.  It showcases Combs with a host of beautiful friends, dancing, drinking and enjoying an evening surrounded in luxury and the finer things of life.  Though it is undeniable modern, with Sinatra playing in the background, it attempts to balance both modern and classic vibes.  In many ways, this advertisement sells an unattainable reality, playing on human desire for wealth, comfort and inclusion. 
    After viewing this advertisement, I would presume that the target audience for this brand of Vodka is the 25-45 crowd, and especially focused on people who admire celebrities and attempt to emulate their lifestyle.  The advertisement showcases an exceptional life, not everyday people, and aims at consumers who see themselves as more elegant, more posh, than the average consumer.  The video is shot from the prospective of an off-screen party-goer, further pushing the belief that the consumer of Ciroc Vodka could easily mingle with this remarkable group of shiny, happy people. 
    Each of the characters in this video are shown enjoying themselves, seemingly without a care in the world.  They appear happy, friendly and at ease in their situation.  They were each hand-picked for their physical beauty and appeal.  They all appear to be between the ages of 25-45, showcase a variety of ethnicities, and represent a mature and elegant crowd.  The advertisement does not include very young people, older people, overweight people, plain people or "average" people. 
    The producer of this advertisement uses an age-old combination of money, beauty and sex-appeal to advertise a product that is scarcely related to any of those things. A quick Google-search for Ciroc Vodka shows that it is a fairly new brand (established in 2003) and is priced similarly to more well-known brands, such as Smirnoff.  However, according to Wikipedia, Ciroc is half-owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs, and the producer relies heavily on the celebrity-mystique to promote this brand and attempt to set it apart from its counterparts.  Though Ciroc is moderately priced, the brand is selling itself as a high-end, classy, elegant choice that reflects both classical wealth and modern style. 


Reference

Ciroc.  (n.d.)  in Wikipedia.  Retrieved 19 January 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%AEroc.

Gallagher, R.  [Rich Gallagher].  2008, October 7.  Diddy/Sinatra Ciroc Commercial.  [Video file].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF3G7vdM2UI.